Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. Everything belongs to Dick Wolf.
Olivia gets home from work with that deadened, defeated look in her eyes, and it just about breaks my heart. I take Olivia's coat and hang it up before enveloping my girlfriend in a warm embrace, giving Olivia a kiss. Her lips taste like coffee and the vanilla lip gloss she borrowed from me this morning. Olivia melts into the kiss, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around me, but then I see the single tear glistening beneath her left eye and pull back, taking her hand in mine and shepherding her into the living room. I pull her down onto the couch and hold her close. "Do you want to talk?"
She leans back against me and sighs. "You know, it just never feels like enough. Sometimes we put the bastards away and sometimes we just don't, but either way, the victim's life as they know it is over. Some of them might heal, partly, but they'll never be the same."
I brush away the tears glittering in her eyes and hug her tighter, measuring my words, trying to find just the right ones. I've never been good at this part. "But that's where we come in," I finally say, then amend, "That's where you come in. You help."
She smiles a bit, but shakes her head. "I know, but . . . I just wish I could do more."
I kiss her forehead. "You do as much as you can. I've never met anyone who works as hard as you do or is as passionate as you are or cares as much as you do. You're special, Liv. You're a hero."
Her expression softens and she looks up to meet my eyes. "No, I'm not. I do what I have to do. It's my job. You do the same."
"But for you, it's more than a job. You do so much, Liv. You're always there whenever anyone needs you and you're so easy to talk to. You've helped so many people."
"I'm not a hero."
I press another kiss to the crown of her head. "You're my hero."
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